Varnish: Speeding Up Your Website with HTTP Reverse Proxy Caching

• Knowledge of the Linux command line (shell)
• Understanding of HTTP and networking

Varnish is a reverse proxy for content-heavy dynamic web sites. Unlike Squid, which was originally a client-side cache, or Apache and nginx, which are web servers, Varnish was designed as an HTTP accelerator. Varnish is focused exclusively on HTTP, unlike other proxy servers that support FTP, SMTP and other network protocols. Varnish is used by Wikipedia, The New York Times, Facebook and Twitter, among other high-profile websites.

In this course, participants will learn about Varnish's features and caching approach while practicing in the setup and configuration of a Varnish proxy on Linux. The course starts with a refresher on key networking principles, then digs into setup and configuration topics and moves steadily towards complex implementations. By the end of the training participants will understand when and where it makes sense to deploy Varnish and will have the necessary practice to deploy their own Varnish proxy solutions.

Audience

• Network technicians
• Network designers
• System administrators

Format of the course

• Part lecture, part discussion, heavy hands-on practice and implementation, occasional quizing to measure progress

Introduction

• Varnish vs Nginx vs other solutions

Overview of caching and proxy servers

Installing and configuring Varnish

Using the Varnish Administration Console (VAC)

Handling HTTP connections with Varnish

Working with the Varnish Configuration Language (VCL)

Invalidating the Varnish cache

Understanding the lifetime of cached objects

Dealing with Backends

Optimizing connections

Logging, measuring and debugging Varnish

Integrating Varnish with other infrastructure and services

Closing remarks